


Moth

by TheKidFromYesterday



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Cuddles, Fluff, I promise, I think this is platonic, Worried Phil, but it's cute, but it's still really small, honestly this is just fluff, okay maybe theres a little more than just SLIGHT angst, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 18:00:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8926783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKidFromYesterday/pseuds/TheKidFromYesterday
Summary: Dan finds a moth in his bed, and seeks Phil to help him get rid of it





	

**Author's Note:**

> Heeeyyyyyyy ya'll  
> So turns out, I can't go a week without wanting to post something on here! My Love Is On The High Seas his gotten me so used to writing often so I came up with this fluffy trash heap the day after I posted the epilogue. I hope you like this, it's cute, it's fluffy, it's a nice way to end the year :)

“Phiiiiiil.” Dan didn’t move from where he sat perched on the edge of his desk, his feet hanging safely above the carpet. “Phil!” 

Oh God, where’d it go? In the sheets? Behind the bed? On the desk?

Dan turned sharply, eyeing the desk around him, making sure that he was alone.

“Phil!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Dan’s roommate sounded less than pleased to be interrupted from his no doubt, very interesting book. Once he got a new book, there was almost nothing in the world that he wanted more than to just sit and enjoy it. But Phil would understand. This was an emergency.

Rounding the corner and peering into his friend’s room, Phil frowned when he saw Dan on his desk, the lights all on and a shoe in his left hand, held high above his head.

“Do I want to know?” Phil asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with the annoyed look of someone who had been forcibly dragged from bed, but there was a hint of a smile in his words.

“There’s a moth.” Dan told him, pointing, “In my bed.” He hoped Phil would detect the urgency in his voice, but Phil just glanced over at the bed where most of the blankets had been thrown off, making Dan’s quick escape from the sheets very obvious. 

“Are you sure it wasn’t a dream?” Phil squinted over at the mess of blankets and sheets, standing on tip-toe with his hand still resting against the door frame. “Maybe it was just your imagination again.”

Dan scowled. “It wasn’t a dream, Phil.” He said indignantly, “There was a moth in my bed and it was huge. Size of my hand.” He held up a hand to demonstrate, spreading his fingers to add to the size. “I could have died.”

Phil let out a half laugh that betrayed how tired he really was. “I think it would be more probable that you died while climbing up there.” He gestured to where Dan teetered on the edge of his desk. “Moths are harmless. What do you want me to do?”

Shrugging, Dan leaned forward to peer at the sheets. “I dunno. Get it out.”

“I don’t even know if there is a moth in the room.” Phil reasoned, “I’m not searching your bed sheets for a harmless little bug that it probably more scared of you than you are of it.”

“Philllll.” Dan knew his whining would probably get him at least somewhere. It was his secret weapon. Phil was defenseless to it. “I don’t wanna share a bed with a moth.”

Shrugging, Phil yawned, starting to step back from the room. “I don’t know what to tell you. The couch is always open.” Both knew that there was no way that Dan could sleep on the couch. The thing was old and uncomfortable these days, thanks to Dan repeatedly sitting in the same “sofa crease” every day. There were dents all over the couch, meaning you had to sleep in a certain way so as not to accidentally fall into one. They had always talked about getting another one, but they just never seemed to be able to find the time or motivation to go shopping for a new one.

As Phil started back to his room with a “Night, Dan.” tossed over his shoulder, Dan was struck with a truly wonderful idea. “Phil!”

He heard a groan from down the hallway and heard his roommate stop. “Yes?”

“Can I...” Suddenly, the idea didn’t seem too great. “Can I sleep in your bed?” The last few words came out in a sort of mumble.

“What was that?” Phil had appeared in the doorway, and Dan knew that he was probably blushing, but he repeated the question, his hands fidgeting with the hem of his t-shirt.

He was met with silence and a confused looking Phil, and instead of waiting for an answer, he kept on pushing. “I mean, it’s not like we’ve never shared a bed before. Remember when we first moved here and your bed wasn’t here yet so we ended up sharing mine? And that time the hotel only gave us one bed instead of two? It wasn’t that bad, was it?” He offered a weak smile, “Besides, this is an emergency.” 

The silence was making him nervous as it stretched longer and longer.

“I’ll stay on my side. I promise.”

Phil rubbed a hand across his eyes. “You’re bringing your own pillow.” Was all he said, before turning and heading towards his room, leaving Dan to grab his pillow and pray to whatever gods or Deities that were out there that the moth hadn’t chosen that to be it’s bed for the night.

As he picked his way towards the bed, careful to watch each step to ensure he didn’t step on anything unpleasant, Dan swore he felt a brush of something against his leg, which only increased his determination to get the hell out of his room.

There was no way he was sleeping in his bed anytime soon. Not with that thing hiding in the sheets.

Grabbing the pillow, Dan shook it out away from his face for a good while, ensuring that no little bug would be coming with him to Phil’s room. 

As he made his way towards his friend’s room, Dan realized that they hadn’t shared a bed in years; Not since they moved in. 

It’s not weird, He told himself, It’s not weird. You guys are friends. Friends can share beds.

As he opened Phil’s door, he saw that Phil was already under the sheets, his glasses on as he read his newest Steven King novel. He glanced up when Dan walked in and gave him a smile that made the tension in Dan’s shoulders ease up. 

“I have my pillow.” Dan offered, holding it up as if to show it off and Phil huffed a laugh.

“Did you have to battle the moth to win it back? How’d it go? Smart money would be on the moth.”

Dan stuck his tongue out at his friend, glad that Phil wasn’t acting as if this whole thing was a big deal. He tossed his pillow down beside Phil’s and Phil pulled the blankets back, his eyes back on his book.

For a couple seconds after Dan made himself comfortable next to the still sitting up Phil, he wondered if he should have brought a book too. Who knew how long it would be before Phil would put the book down? But after a few moments, Phil put the bookmark in place and lay down beside Dan, switching the lamp on his bedside table off.

“Lets not make this a regular thing, okay?” Phil might have sounded serious if it weren’t for the smile playing at his lips and his eyes bright with suppressed laughter. “Next time there’s a moth, you’re dealing with it yourself.” There was just enough light from the outside window so that they could see each other, although they were mostly made up of shadows.

Dan fake pouted, eliciting a laugh from Phil. 

“You need to learn how to get rid of bugs by yourself.” Phil reasoned, only half serious. “I mean, if I’m not home or when you eventually move away...”

Frowning, Dan sat up halfway. “Why would I move away?”

Phil shrugged. “You’re going to meet someone special at some point. Believe me, when the time comes, you’re definitely going to want to move in with them instead of spending the rest of your life here with me.” There was a joking tone to Phil’s voice, but there was something else there that Dan couldn’t quite put his finger on.

For some reason, Dan couldn’t imagine living with anyone else other than Phil. True, they had been flat mates for a few years, so of course they had gotten used to seeing each other constantly, but shouldn’t he at least assume that he would live with someone else in the future?

Phil seemed to sense his discomfort, “What’s the matter? Another moth?” Phil smiled at his own joke, but Dan was frowning still. He couldn’t imagine living away from Phil. Suddenly, the moth incident seemed like such an insignificant problem. He was going to live without Phil one day. Sure, they’d probably still be friends, but it wouldn’t be the same. 

There would be no more early grumpy Phil before his coffee. There would be no more random stickers covering Dan’s things, placed there with great precision by Phil. There would be no more late night Mario races, no arguments over who had to do the dishes, no Phil so save him from moths——no Phil at all.

Burrowing closer to his friend, Dan tried to push the thoughts away. He knew that if he thought about them enough, he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all, which would defeat the purpose of staying with Phil entirely.

“Dan?” 

Dan cuddled up close enough to Phil that his friend was forced to put an arm around Dan’s shoulders to keep from falling off the bed.

“Wha—Dan, are you okay?”

Dan nodded, not meaning it. He couldn’t live on his own without Phil. That was wrong. 

Phil released Dan, sitting up halfway to frown at where Dan was still hugging him. “Dan, what’s wrong?”

Shrugging, Dan sat up too, “I dunno.”

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

Dan shook his head.

“Alright, well,” Phil pressed the back of his hand against Dan’s forehead, checking his temperature. “You’re kinda warm, but—”

Dan brushed him off, laying back down, and Phil followed suit. “I’m fine.”

They lay quietly for a while, the back of Dan’s hand resting against Phil’s arm and sending little sparks up and down his arm. Maybe it had fallen asleep.

“Phil?” Dan half hoped that his roommate would already be asleep.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t wanna move away from here.”

Phil hesitated, then rolled over to his side so that he could look Dan in the eyes. “Well, not right now maybe.”

But Dan shook his head, “No, I mean, I don’t want to move away from you.”

The silence afterward was uncomfortable, and Dan found himself regretting even opening his mouth. He had half a mind to get up, right then and there, and leave the room. The couch might work, although Dan had a habit of forgetting exactly how uncomfortable it really was.

Phil smiled gently. “Okay.” It was obvious that he didn’t believe Dan in the slightest.

“I’m serious.” He was. “I can’t imagine living away from here. From us together.” 

“That’s because ‘us’ is pretty much all we’ve known for the past seven years.” Phil reasoned, sounding a lot more tired than he was a few minutes before. “I don’t want to talk about this, Dan, it’s too late. I need to be up early tomorrow.” 

Dan didn’t say anything for at least an entire minute, before quietly breaking the silence. “Do you want me to move out?” He didn’t want Phil to answer the question. Not when there was a chance that he’d say yes.

Phil was silent.

Was he asleep?

“Phil?” Dan leaned over his friend, gently poking at Phil’s cheek until a tiny smile appeared, mirroring on to Dan’s face. “Oh. Thought you were asleep. Did you hear me before?”

Phil sighed. “Yes, I heard you.”

“And?”

“And of course I don’t want you to move out.” The tired voice was still there, but this time there was a hint of a smile in the words. “I just don’t want to get my hopes up that we’ll always be living together, only to realize later that I was simply being childish.”

What did he mean? 

“I didn’t want to trick my mind into thinking that you’d stay forever. It’s unfair to both of us.” Phil continued, although the words did nothing to clear up Dan’s questions.

“You wouldn’t be tricking your mind into anything.” Dan said, although unsure now. “I’m not moving out.”

“Yet.”

“But if I don’t move out——”

“You will though!” Phil burst out, his voice not loud, but not quiet either. There was a sadness in his eyes that Dan couldn’t quite place and he flinched back slightly at Phil’s words. “Someday you’re going to leave and it’ll be fine because you’re growing up and eventually you’ll outgrow all this.” He gestured to the room around him, not letting Dan get a word in before he spoke up again. “You’ll outgrow mario kart and staying up late watching anime and maybe even youtube, at some point! You’ve grown up Dan, and you might not notice it, but I sure as hell do! You’re leaving things behind, these days, and I doubt you even notice.”

Frowning, Dan sat up as well so that the two were facing each other, eye to eye. He didn’t know what Phil was talking about. Leaving things behind? That couldn’t be right.

“You don’t sleep with your bear anymore, it’s been sitting on the corner of your desk for months now.” Phil said softly, his eyes not quite meeting Dan’s. “You haven’t been on tumblr in months, and you haven’t once stayed up later than 12 for the past week.”

“I was tired.” Dan offered, but he knew it wasn’t true. He had had to get up early in the mornings and he hadn’t wanted to be tired then. 

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing,” Phil reassured him, “Of course not. Growing up is normal. It happens to all of us.”

“Then what does this have to do with me moving out?”

Phil sighed, scrubbing a hand down his face. “I was just...I didn’t want...” He stopped. “It’s stupid.” He warned Dan softly, and Dan put a gentle hand on Phil’s arm, waiting patiently on the outside, but begging Phil to continue, on the inside. 

“I’m afraid you’re going to outgrow me some day.”

The words felt like a physical punch to Dan, his eyes widening when he saw how serious Phil actually was about the confession. Outgrow Phil? There was no way.

“I don’t want something between us to happen,” Phil gestured between them, Dan noticing for the first time how close the two of them were. “And then have it taken away before I even get a chance to appreciate it.” Dan didn’t answer, his mind moving too fast and too slow at the same time, and Phil sighed. “I told you it was stupid. If you want to move out, I’m not stopping you. You’re an amazing person Dan, and I know you’re going to do so much good in the world and I don’t want you ever feeling like you’re trapped here with me. Okay? I mean, I’ve known you since you were a kid and I’ve never met anyone who is more determined and kind and——”

Dan threw himself forward, catching Phil off guard and knocking the both of them back on the bed. His arms were wrapped tightly around Phil’s neck, burying his face in the older man’s shoulder as he waited to see if Phil would hold him back. Dan, outgrow Phil? The concept was unreal, unthinkable. Phil was a constant in Dan’s life that he never wanted to give up, never wanted to let go. He had been there, by Dan’s side, since he was a teenager, wiping away his tears and sitting through Dan’s random fits of giggles——the thought of living without him was alien. 

Tentatively, Phil’s arms wrapped themselves around Dan’s middle, holding him close and resting his chin atop Dan’s curly hair.

“M’not ever outgrowing you.” Dan said, his words muffled by Phil’s shoulder, “Ever. I promise.” And the tightening of Phil’s arms let him know that his promise was heard.

Their legs were tangled together and the blankets were in a disarray around them, but neither cared. Phil’s hand idly combed through Dan’s hair and Dan listened as their heartbeats pound together, smiling when he heard they were in sync. 

“And you might not believe me, but even if I ever stop youtube or playing mario kart with you, which, duh, I will never do,” Dan pushed himself up onto his elbows to look down at Phil. “I will never ever ever outgrow you.”

Phil smiled, his eyes lit up. “Yeah? I promise to never outgrow you either.”

Dan nodded at the affirmation, pretending to be serious before he lay back down beside Phil again. He didn’t even bother to listen to the voice in his head that told him that sharing a bed was okay, but cuddling was pushing it. It was Phil. Cuddling was allowed with Phil. 

“Phil?” Dan asked softly, his voice seeming far too loud for the quiet moment that they shared.

“Yeah?”

“Does this mean you’ll get rid of the moth for me?”

It started in Phil’s chest, a low rumbling that couldn’t be mistaken for the beginnings of a laugh. Slowly, it made it’s way to Phil’s lips and he laughed in a way that not only showed his happiness, but his relief as well. He laughed and laughed like what Dan had said was the funniest thing he had ever heard and Dan couldn’t help but giggle as well.

“Yes. I guess so.” Phil chuckled, hugging Dan a little closer to him. “Tomorrow, though.”

Dan nodded. “Tomorrow.” He agreed.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!! Leave a comment if you'd like, telling me what you thought.  
> I considered writing this to be more than one chapter but honestly all of my planning went to a dark place and it ended up sounding like an angst fest that I didn't really want to write. Also I wrote this in about two hours so please disregard any spelling or grammatical errors.  
> I don't think there's a high chance of me posting any more until the new year, what with Christmas coming up soon(!!!!) but I'll be back in january to graciously hand out my garbage to all of you who are willing to read it. :D  
> tumblr: phailingphantasticly


End file.
